Driver alerted, Maoists fail to blow up Rajdhani

In an attempt to blow up a Rajdhani train, Maoists managed to derail a pilot engine train on Tuesday. However, no casualty was reported.

Passengers of the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani, which was 10 minutes behind, had an escape when the driver of the derailed pilot engine spread information that saved immense casualties.

Police in Gaya and Aurangabad cordoned off the area and stopped all trains on the route between Dhanbad and Mughalsarai.

According to sources, the governor-designate of West Bengal, K N Tripathi, was among the stranded passengers.

After some confusion over the jurisdiction of the accident site — whether it fell under Gaya or Aurangabad — an FIR was lodged with Rafiganj police station in Aurangabad, a police officer said.

The same stretch and train was targeted, as in 2001, when a Maoist blast left 57 passengers of the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani dead.

“It was the movement of pilot engine that saved 22823 Bhubaneswar-Rajdhani Express, which was to pass within 10 minutes. Other Rajdhani Express trains following it were stopped at different stations,” he added.

The police said the blast was triggered by the Maoists just before the beginning of their 24-hour Bihar bandh from midnight to protest police firing at Madanpur, last Monday.